When you hear Los Alamos National Laboratory is disabling its computers' USB ports to prevent people from toting away flash memory drives filled with classified nuclear weapons information, it's not a stretch to imagine that there might be a market for thumb drives with a bit of security.

Enter Lexar's SAFE PSD S1100, a product line announced Monday geared for use at corporate or government customer sites where there's a need to keep the lid on sensitive data.

The drives offer built-in 256-bit file encryption and a mandatory password to gain access to the data. The encryption governs the password as well as the devices' encryption keys and operating firmware, Lexar said. In addition, each system has a unique identifier and can be managed by central servers that govern device and data policies and audit usage.

Lexar, a Micron subsidiary, announced models with 1GB and 2GB capacities. The product is sold through value-added resellers.

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Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and covers browsers, Web development, digital photography and new technology. In the past he has been CNET's beat reporter for Google, Yahoo, Linux, open-source software, servers and supercomputers. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces.
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